Scene 4: The Tower

Hindle dangles on the stairs turned ramp, his eyes irresistibly wandering back to the skeleton they met before and the evil foliage it is surrounded by. Leana and the group pull on the thorn whip she has produced to bring Hindle back up, but their grip begins to slip. Brickowsky uses his mind to push Hindle up a few feet at least, hoping it gives them the edge to prevent the warlock from slipping free.

Hindle feels the push, but also feels the thorn whip reaching its limits and about to break. The group's efforts have afforded a little extra time to prevent disaster. What will Hindle and the group do next?

In a moment of clarity or maybe his patron's nudging, Hindle disappears in a puff of grey smoke and appears next to the group on the floor above. Brickowsky exclaims in relief as Leana releases her thorn whip and they turn to focus on their surroundings and the lantern Hindle has acquired.

Looking over the floor they are now on, the group sees most of the floor on this level is broken and the poisonous plants can be seen below. More broken tiles on the next floor above allow sunlight to filter down, helping the plants to grow. The winding stairs they took are still stairs to the next floor up, but the set down have now become a ramp. In front of them is a set of double doors flocked by wall sconces holding candles. Merton looks it over and no traps this time at least. Not even a lock on the doors!

After a good look around, Hindle and Brickowsky focus on the strange lantern. Hindle holds it up high, giving further illumination to the gloomy corners. Scattered gold coins can be seen in some of them.

With Hindle's aid, Brickowsky is able to determine after some minutes that this is a Lantern of Revealing. The hooded lantern can burn for 6 hours on just 1 pint of oil and appears to be full right now. When unhooded, the lantern can illuminate a 30-foot radius and dimly light up an additional 30 feet out. Invisible creatures and objects are visible as long as they are within 30 feet of an unhooded lantern. The hood can be lowered to dim the light to a 5-foot radius if needed.

Leana leads the way, fearlessly opening one side of the double doors. The candlelight sconces weakly light the entrance as a large dark room opens before the group. Sunlight shines down on a single stone column exactly Merton's height with a golden apple shining on top of it. A small golden plaque is attached to the front of the column. Behind the column with the apple, stone statues of different creatures reach towards the apple, bathed in their own ray of sunlight.

To the left is a statue of a tall regal human man, a crown upon his head and an outstretched palm almost like he is offering a hand. Directly behind the column is a statue of a large beholder with nine eye stalks dancing around its head, the final tenth empty stalk reaching towards the column. To the right is a statue of a 3-foot tall fairy with wings almost as big as her; she is laughing and cups both hands up and out to the column.

Brickowsky leans around the tall druid Leana and looks about the room, now noting the sunlit statues and column with the apple. He is drawn in by the golden plaque and reads it aloud for all to hear.

"To The Most Beautiful"

He looks back at the statues and amuses himself with his own thoughts. As he lets his thoughts wander, his wizardly intuition, combined with his darkvision, kicks in as he continues to peer around the room. Faded frescoes lie behind each statue. Behind the human statue is a faded owl. Behind the beholder statue is a faded dove. Behind the fairy statue is a faded peacock.

With almost otherworldly knowledge, he also notices a tuft of blue-black fur near the beholder statue.